Biotechnology

What is biotechnology?

Any technological application that uses biological systems,
living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products
or processes for specific use.

What is genetic engineering?

Genetic engineering, an area of biotechnology, is (put simply)
is the attempt to "perfect" an organism by tinkering with its genes.


How did genetic engineering begin?

Genetic engineering owes its existence to the developments in
molecular genetics that were possible after the structure
of DNA was determined by James Watson and
Francis Crick in 1953. Genetic engineering is sometimes
considered a complex extension of the selective breeding practiced
for thousands of years in the domestication of agricultural products
and animals (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology).

Why use genetic engineering?

Genetic engineering has become an increasingly common agricultural practice.
Introducing genes into a plant aims to make it as useful and productive
as possible by acting to protect the crop, improve the harvest, or enable
the plant to perform a new function or acquire a new trait. Specific objectives
of genetically modifying a plant include increasing its yield, improving its
quality, or enhancing its resistance to pests or disease, as well as its
tolerance for heat, cold, or drought. Some of the GM traits that have been
introduced into food crops are enhanced flavor, slowed ripening, reduced
reliance on fertilizer, self-generating insecticide, and added nutrients (Wexler 2005).

There was also the trouble of environmental issues arising from the crop
duster planes method of spreading pesticides on crops. Crop duster
planes scattered chemical supplements over the land in order to
combat pests and aid seed growth. The use of such additives greatly
increased production, although critics, specifically the biologist Rachel
Carson in her 1962 best-seller, Silent Spring, warned of dangerous
ecological side effects. Since the late twentieth century, the agricultural
sector has looked to biotechnology and genetic modification as ways
to maximize crop resilience and productivity, without putting the
environment in danger (Wills 2003).

How has genetic engineering (specifically) been applied to agriculture?

Agriculture has been one of the most successful industries in utilizing genetic
engineering. Today there are over 1,300 companies involved in genetic engineering,
many of which are located in the United States, a clear indication of the rapid growth
of the American biotechnology sector and the applicability of the powerful new
techniques (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology).

The Environmental Defense Fund provided much information
about a recent case in which corn plants were genetically altered to
produce DDT, a pesticide, to keep monarch butterflies away. The
monarch caterpillars would drastically decrease, or, sometimes, eliminate
the pollen from these plants entirely. These caterpillars impacted production
of corn greatly. As a result, genetic engineering was put to use to keep
monarchs from destroying the corn supply (Genetic Engineering Kills).

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